Electromagnetic fields keep cooling pipes clear

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jan 17, 2007

Water conditioning system cuts corrosion in steel factory cooling system pipework.

The Jordan Steel Factory outside Amman, Jordan was concerned about corrosion within the pipework of its cooling system, caused by large quantities of sulphate reducing bacteria, iron oxides and scaling build up.

These factors combined, contributed to an overall reduction in the efficiency of the direct and in-direct cooling system at the factory.

Corrosion is a major issue for the steel factory as once the metal pipe work has begun to corrode, the process rapidly accelerates.

The management decided to contact the Corrosion Engineering Division of the Royal Scientific Society, Mechanical Design and Technology Centre.

It was decided to undertake an eight month trial of Hydropath's water conditioning system.

One of Hydropath's AquaKlear P120 units was fitted to one of the pipes and a series of test coupons installed throughout the system.

Seven carbon steel coupons with nuts and bolts (made from the same material as the pipes) were located throughout the system to measure corrosion and a further seven stainless steel alloy coupons were affixed with plastic nuts and bolts to measure scale build up.

Plastic was used to eliminate any interference from galvanic action.

The solution to this problem was the introduction of the AquaKlear P120 unit.

Hydropath technology works by inducing coaxial electromagnetic fields through the fluids passing through the pipe.

A "wave" is generated from the unit, which is carried throughout the system.

This charge helps prevent the electromechanical process of corrosion taking place: ie the negatively charged electrons are drawn towards the outer skin of the pipe (known as the "skin effect") and the heavier positively charged ions are drawn away from the service.

The result is that a state of passivity exists within the water.

The AquaKlear system also provides the benefit of killing bacteria and algae.

It does so by applying a charge to the bacteria, which gets hydrated with a pure water layer.

This layer is absorbed into the bacteria by osmosis creating osmotic pressure which bursts the membrane thus killing the bacteria.

Following the installation of the AquaKlear P120 system, there was a significant reduction in corrosion at the steel factory.

The results indicated a reduction of iron oxide percentages in an 8-month period from 60-70% to 49%, which reflected positively on reducing corrosion rates.

Scaling percentages also reduced dramatically, thus leading to the direct and in-direct factory cooling system operating more efficiently.

Dr Daniel Stefanini, Technical Director of Hydropath Holdings comments: "Hydropath technology is a patented and proven means of physically conditioning water without the need for chemicals such as corrosion inhibitors, hypochlorate or sodium - depending on the application".

"Not only does this save our customers money, but is a far more environmentally friendly solution".

"This latest independent report validates the practical experience that customers around the world have experienced".